7 injured, 1 missing after uncompleted warehouse collapses

Seven people were rushed to the hospital after a warehouse which was under construction in the North Industrial Area in Accra collapsed.

The seven were taken to two separate hospitals – the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and a hospital at Alajo , while one other person is unaccounted for with a rescue team still assessing the site.

Ten others escaped the collapse unscathed.

Work was ongoing on the warehouse earlier on Saturday when the building caved in, injuring the workers who were at the scene.

Assistant Senior Disaster Control Officer at the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Isaac Forson told Citi News that a search is still ongoing for the final person.

“Around 2:30pm, we received a call indicating that a Snappy warehouse had collapsed. We quickly rushed to the scene, and we’ve sent seven people to the hospital. Two to Korle Bu and five to Alajo.”

When asked what could have caused the collapse, Mr. Forson said: “the horizontal woodwork may not have been strong enough to carry the weight from the floor.”

The Mayor of Accra, Mohammed Nii Adjei Sowah, who visited the scene of the incident, said preliminary checks had revealed that the collapse might have been as a result of negligence from the contractors.

He also stated that work had earlier been stopped at the warehouse after he paid a visit to the site, and noted that construction was going on without a permit.

He added that “sanctions will apply” if it was determined that the contractors had proceeded without acquiring the necessary permits.

“There were some structural defects that technically, they had not taken care of. The contractors have not said anything convincing yet.”
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